It was evident Dave Rank invested a lot of time and effort preparing for his April 22, 2025 presentation: demo samples were coordinated, monitors were strategically placed, equipment was hauled and devices were connected. Dave’s topic was A Taste of Digital and Hybrid-digital Techniques—an unexplored area for most traditional hands-on artists. But all of us who attended were intrigued by the possibilities Dave showed us.
Dave eased us in by explaining foundational concepts, pointing out different digital tools and their settings within the software’s palette. Dave demonstrated the stylus’s pressure sensitivity as he drew across his digital canvas—a Wacom tablet. He encouraged us to try out 2D still work on our own computers by downloading free software. Adobe offers a painting and drawing app called Fresco and Microsoft has its Fresh Paint.
Dave likes the physics of animation and interpreting movement of forms and employs Blender, a robust drawing program with 3D and animation capabilities.
Dave drew an example on his tablet of “onion skinning” where seeing a faint image of the frame before and after helps the artist envision a smooth transition of movement and gain insight on how to draw the next image. His grandchildren are the stars of an animation short Dave produces for their 5th birthdays.
The myriad 3D sculpting tools in Blender allow artists to create 3D objects. By selecting a tool and dragging a point on the object’s mesh grid, Dave proceeded to morph shapes in crazy ways. You can even output your final model to a 3D printer!
Interested members were invited to approach Dave’s workspace and experiment with drawing and painting digitally using a stylus on a screen. Thanks Dave for opening our eyes and minds to the virtual world of art!
